Modern Vectors of Economic Oppression - Food Systems

Modern Vectors of Economic Oppression Food Systems

White Economic Advantage + Black Economic Suppression = Modern Vectors of Economic Racism

"For the (racial wealth) gap to be closed, America must undergo a vast social transformation produced by the adoption of bold national policies, policies that will forge a way forward by addressing, finally, the long-standing consequences of slavery, the Jim Crow years that followed, and ongoing racism and discrimination that exist in our society today."

W. Darity, D. Hamilton, M. Paul, A Aja, A. Price, A. Moore, and C. Chiopris

Learn about each modern vector of economic racism below:

Reckoning with an Unjust Past: a Spoken Word Series by Veronica Wylie

Summary

Food Desert

“Grocery gaps, locales in which there are no grocery stores or other opportunities to purchase fresh, healthy food, which typically co-exist with “food swamps,” areas which have a high prevalence of unhealthy food options, such as fast food and convenience stores[1].”

During the 1940s, low-interest home loans offered to middle-class white families through the Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration enabled them to move from cities to suburbs. Supermarkets followed white middle-class incomes to the suburbs in a process called white flight[1]. African American families were systematically denied access to these loans and when they could purchase homes they were relegated to purchasing homes in divested redlined areas. Because redlined areas were graded “high risk” by their association with African Americans, African American communities directly experienced retail divestment and became the “Food Deserts” that exist today.

[1] New York Law School Racial Justice Project., "Unshared Bounty: How Structural Racism Contributes to the Creation and Persistence of Food Deserts.

Personal Narratives

Black neighborhoods with little poverty have fewer supermarkets, on average, than high-poverty white areas[3].

“When minority families shop locally for groceries they find a grocery store that is “2.5 times smaller than the average grocery store in a higher income neighborhood” with higher priced food, less fresh produce, and more processed food. The inner-city minority diet reflects the limited choices minorities face close to home.“[3]

The Unexpected Challenges of Living in a Food Desert

"You’ve probably heard the term food desert to describe a neighborhood where residents have little or no access to fresh and healthy food. Food deserts hit low-income communities hard, leaving their residents with few options and sometimes long distances to travel in search of healthy food.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent study says 39 million Americans live in “low-access communities,” or communities in which at least a third of the population is more than a mile away from a supermarket or large grocery store in an urban area, or more than 10 miles away in a rural area.

Lauren Ornelas is the founder and director of the Food Empowerment Project based in Northern California. Her organization studies food deserts in Santa Clara County and the city of Vallejo, both in California, and is working to improve communities’ access to healthy food. Ornelas spoke with host Lizzie O’Leary. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Lizzie O’Leary: You did a big study in Santa Clara County. What did you look for and what you find?

Lauren Ornelas: One of the things that we found out was that, I guess no surprise to many people, is that high-income communities had way more access to fresh produce than communities of color and low-income communities had. In fact, the high-income areas had 14 times more access to even frozen vegetables. So in communities of color and low-income communities, what you would typically find in the freezer section would be frozen pizzas or ice cream, not necessarily frozen vegetables. We also found that in a lot of these communities, you had produce that may be available at the convenience store at the register, but they didn’t have prices on them. So that meant that whoever was behind the counter would determine how much, say, a banana would cost, and it might change depending on who you were. This type of system also puts people who don’t speak English at an incredible disadvantage to others. We also found that some of the smaller, what I would consider convenience stores or liquor stores, were actually being labeled as proper grocery stores and supermarkets even though they clearly weren’t that at all.

O’Leary: What are some things do you think people listening to this interview might not realize? I know you mentioned to my producer the idea of being time poor, which I think might be something that people in higher-income communities are not thinking about.

Ornelas: I think that a lot of times when people hear about issues like high rates of diabetes or other problems, they immediately think that “these people” don’t want to eat healthy, without acknowledging that many of these people desperately want to eat more fresh produce. It’s simply not available to them. Especially immigrants to this country actually eat healthier in the communities that they came from because they were able to grow their own food. So sometimes it’s like, “Oh, well you could buy, you know, you can go in bulk and buy things really cheap. But one, not a lot of these locations these grocery stores have bulk sections. And two, a lot of people are exactly time poor and cash poor, meaning that they’re working several jobs to make ends meet, and they don’t have a lot of time to sit and cook a meal from scratch. So it is those that are more convenient foods are going to be easier for them when they’re trying to make ends meet. They’re trying to keep a roof over their head while they work two to three jobs that aren’t paying them very much...[5]

[5] The unexpected challenges of living in a food desert - Marketplace

Methods of Discrimination

Lack of investment in minority neighborhood infrastructure, including grocery stores
Higher prices and less variety
Gentrification results in cultural food staples being phased out
Lack of access to healthful food choices including fruits and vegetables
Poorer health outcomes for residents due to nutritional deficiencies

Metrics

“For every additional supermarket in a census tract, produce consumption increases 32 percent for African Americans and 11 percent for whites, according to a multistate study[4]. “

“Using statistical modeling techniques that control for a variety of factors, researchers estimate that adding a new grocery store to a high poverty neighborhood in Indianapolis would lead to a three pound weight decrease among residents, while eliminating a fast food restaurant in a neighborhood with a high density of fast food would lead to a one pound weight decrease[4].”

Based on 2000 census data “the availability of chain supermarkets in African American neighborhoods is only 52% (p<0.01) of that in White neighborhoods with even less relative availability in urban areas[2].”

Questions for Research and Reflection:

Which myths based in white supremacy culture did you grow up with?

Black people sure eat a lot of fried food and junk food.
Why are Black people fatter than white people?
If Black people just ate a better diet and exercised, they wouldn’t have diabetes
Why can’t they just go to the store and get better food?

Self reflection questions:

How does living in a food desert affect overall physical health? Rates of diabetes? Cardiovascular issues? Dental problems? Why?
How does the reduced ability to acquire real estate impact the ability for families to grow their own food?
What did you learn about nutrition from those who grocery shopped and prepared your meals at home? What did you learn about preparing your own food?
How does underemployment and salary disparity affect grocery choices?
When you were growing up, how many grocery stores were in your neighborhood?
What was the selection of food like? Fresh fruits? Vegetables?
What sorts of foods did you grow up eating?
How many fast food restaurants were in your neighborhood?
How has food access affected your family's health?
Ask a Black friend or colleague what they remember about grocery stores, fast food, and typical meals growing up.
Ask a Black friend or colleague: was their family charged more than other non-Black patrons for common items at the corner store?